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National Capitol
Located in Paseo del Prado e/ Dragones y San José in Old Havana this was the venue of the House of Representatives and the Senate of the Republic. When you tour the building you see several kinds of Marble were used for the construction of its floors, from which arises a cupula that is over 90 meters high, and visible from different areas of the city. Under the cupula, and representing the republic. The Hall of the Lost Steps was designed for official ceremonies and the building is currently used as the Ministry of Science, Technology and the Environment and is also the venue of the Institute of Scientific Information and Technology.
Malecon
Located along Antonio Maceo Avenue, the area known as the traditional Malecon of Havana was the first attempt to urbanize the coastal strip of the city. It was first built from the Castillo de la Punta (La Punta Castle), at the entrance of the bay, up to the cove of San Lazaro, during the early decades of the last century. It is a remarkable piece of work since it is in harmony with the architectural complex. Today, the Malecon represents the life of the city where relevant developments of culture and history take place and represents a unique symbol of the capital.
Palacio de los Capitanes Generales
Located in Calle Tacón e/ Obispo y O´Reilly in Old Havana, this building represents the Cuban architecture of the 18th century. Its construction started in 1776 and was used as the headquarters of Capitular Houses, jails, and residence of the Generals of the Army of the Island. It is used currently as the Museum of the City.
Castillo De la Real Fuerza
Located in Calle O´Reilly No. 2 e/ Ave. del Puerto y Tacón in Old Havana, this castle was declared National monument. It was built to replace the former fort that the Governor of the Island had built under the orders of the Queen of Spain and which was destroyed in 1555 by the French corsair Jacques de Sores. It was opened in 1577 and was the beginning of a fortification plan carried out by the Spanish crown in the Caribbean to protect the voyages of the Spanish fleet. It is also the oldest sculpture of Cuba. Today it is the headquarters of the Museum of Artistic Ceramics which exhibits paintings of the Cuban artists.
Castillo de los Tres Reyes del Morro
Located on the east side of the Havana bay, this castle was declared National Monument. Its construction started in 1589 and finished in 1630. Its construction was directed by Juan Bautista Antonelli, an Italian military engineer. It was the most important fort of the colonial times, not only from the strategic-military point of view, but also for its effectiveness as lighthouse and symbol of the city. When the British invasion took place in 1762, the castle was damaged. So it had to be reconstructed and upgraded. The lighthouse was built in 1844 to replace with a more modern one, the existing model from 1764.
Castillo de San Salvador de la Punta
Located in Ave. del Puerto y Paseo del Prado in Old Havana, it was declared National Monument and was built by Bautista Antonelli on one of the points jutting into San Lázaro (St. Lazarus) Cove, on the western shore of the entrance to the port. Its construction began in 1589, at the same time as El Morro Castle did. Both of them had strategic positions –they were placed in both sides of the entrance of the bay for them to be the most important defensive systems of the city. It was reconstructed in the 18th century to repair damages caused by the British during their siege of the city
Catedral de La Habana
Located in Calle Empedrado No. 158 in Old Havana, this is great example of the so-called “Cuban baroque style,” that was developed in Cuba at the beginning of the 18th century. Its construction started in 1748 and finished in 1777.
El Templete
Located in Calle Baratillo in Plaza de Armas, Old Havana, it is similar to a small Greco-Roman temple. Its back part faces the bay of Havana and its front part faces the Plaza de Armas, which according to the tradition, indicates the place where the first mass and meeting of the city council were held in 1519 to mark the foundation of the villa in its current location.
Cathedral Square
Located in Calle Empedrado in Old Havana, this was the last one of the main squares to be built. During the second half of the XVI century, some neighbors built their houses in this area and named it the swamp, because this is where the waters coming from the city gathered before going into the sea. This square became one of the main places of the city during the XVIII century, wealthy families of Havana’s high society started then to build mansions that can still be seen in the area. Its aspect changed completely, and its name became Cathedral Square after the outstanding Church of Jesus was built on one of its sides.
José Martí Revolution Square
Located in Calle Paseo in Plaza de la Revolución, this area was originally called Civic Square, in the 1950s. During the past 40 years, it has been the scene of the largest demonstrations of the Cuban people and a permanent site for defending revolutionary principles, sovereignty and independence. José Martí National Library, the Ministry of the Interior (whose walls bear a representation of the face of Che Guevara), the Palace of the Revolution (headquarters of the Council of State, the Council of Ministers and the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba) and the National Theater of Cuba are all located facing the square.
National Botanic Garden
Located in Carretera del Rocío km. 3 in Calabazar, Arroyo Naranjo, it opened in 1984 and has 66 hectares that allow to see different areas of vegetation, which are divided by sections that display the most important species of various continents.
Ernest Hemingway Museum
Located in La Vigía farm, San Francisco de Paula in San Miguel del Padrón, this was the house where the famous American novelist Ernest Hemingway, winner of the Noble Prize of Literature, lived from 1939 to 1961. Each object, book and furniture, still remain in the same place and are carefully preserved as part of our important cultural heritage.